As parents of Levi, we love him and care for him deeply. He made a horrible mistake, and will live with the consequences forever. However, we also know the depth of our son’s character. He is a good boy, but what we saw in those videos is disgusting. While it may be difficult for those who only know Levi from the video to understand, we know his heart, and he is not a racist. We raised him to be loving and inclusive and we all remain surrounded by a diverse, close-knit group of friends.

See how it works? We can’t call Levi and his ilk racist because we haven’t performed open-heart surgery on him == or it’s equivalent (as evoked in my favorite National Enquirer headline )

“When I hear a white person say they “don’t know what’s in a person’s heart” after someone has been caught saying or doing something obviously racist I immediately understand that is a person who is seeking to excuse or minimize their past or present racism”